State Actor:A person or organization that plays a role in politics and directly represents the governing power of a state and/or receives direct, obligatory direction from a state.
Non-State Actor:A person or organization which plays a role in politics and receives no direct, obligatory direction from a state.
Non-State Actor Model Introduction (standard of measure):
Non-state actors have goals and undertake efforts to achieve those desired ends. Simple analysis of non-state actor activities and the historical result of the efforts can develop a picture of their effectiveness. The question of the role of a non-state actor should be broken down into two related perspectives. 1) The role could refer to a service or purpose it performs. 2) The role could refer to the influence it exerts on geopolitics beyond its simple purpose or service, whether intentional (directive) or not. A non-state actor’s influence will likely be seen in two dimensions. 1) A correlation between the non-state actor’s beliefs and philosophies and that of the culture in which they reside. 2) A correlation between the goals of non-state actors and the goals and ambitions of the culture in which they reside. These dimensions may materialize in popular support or simply in common cultural effort. Additionally other actors may act against the efforts of the non-state actor or subscribe to beliefs contrary to the non-state actor. The degree to which desired ends come from lateral cultural efforts or intrinsic target actor behaviors must be distinguished. Therefore, the success of a non-state actor should be considered separately yet related to the influence the non-state actor wields in its geopolitical environment.
Careful consideration should be paid to the service/purpose or functional role of the non-state actor. This is to say, what would exist in the absence of the non-state actor? And perhaps more importantly who knows it. If a non-state actor is performing a specific function other actors may leave the non-state actor alone or even secure its position. An example of a domestic non-state entity is a home owner’s association. Home owner’s associations carry out many civic functions (in some cases: trash collection, city code enforcement, etc) that the local government does not have to spend time and money to perform on its own. Home owners associations are often left alone, and even supported by local governments. Other actors may go to great lengths to keep non-state actors in place if they provide an important function. Another potential example of this is telecommunications is Somalia. While, warlords greedily grabbed up industry and wealth the telecommunication industry was generally left alone. Such a functional role may endow a non-state actor great influence or simply provide stability for an inefficacious cause or effort. Such functional roles are best glimpsed through the lens of network analysis. Network analysis should not only be conducted to determine the relationship between the non-state actor and other actors, but in addition it should be conducted to determine the relationship between the efforts and functional roles of non-state actors and the roles and efforts of other actors.
In order to determine the potential influence non-state actors may have on geopolitics in Africa and in turn US policy, analysis must take a multi-perspective approach. Collection should be guided identifying the key aspects of the non-state actor which are most indicative of the above mentioned characteristics. The role of a non-state actor is best defined by its movement toward desired ends minus lateral efforts (+/-) plus the popular support (+/-) it wields plus the functional role (+/-) it plays.
clip_image001.gif
State Actor category:
Non-State actors should be broken down into groups according to the nature of their efforts to acquire desired ends.
Multinational Corporations
Terrorist Groups
Islamic
Separatists
Paramilitary Groups
Tribal Orgs.
Sub-national Governments
Criminal Orgs
Drug producers/smugglers
Org Crime
Piracy
Diaspora
NGOs
Random Sampling:
The best way to gain an accurate intelligence picture of non-state actors in Africa is to identify populations and sub-populations (categorical non-state actors) and randomly select a sample to measure based on dimensions that are likely to indicate their role in geopolitics. The sample should be measured and compared for correlations between movement toward goal, functional role, and influence and the identified indicator dimensions. The dimensions should then be refined and organized according to the results. Theoretical causal relationships should be defined between the dimension and their indicated assessment. Once analysis is complete a second sample should be selected and assessed using the model to determine whether it accurately analyzes the second group.
Analytical Dimensions of Non-State Actors
Western-Individualist/ Non-Western-Collectivist
Hofstede’s (1980) cultural dimensions can be used to determine this value:
Individualism/Collectivism
Power Distance
Masculinity/Femininity
Uncertainty Avoidance
Significant data likely already exists for Africa
-Western-Individualism:
Western individualism generally emphasizes individual human rights, free market economy, and liberal democracies. Western culture generally exhibits more masculine qualities, has less power distance between superiors and subordinates, and has a high tolerance for risk or uncertainty.
-Non-Western-Collectivism:
Generally emphasizes family reputation, communal property, and service to the state or cause. Collectivist cultures generally exhibit more feminine qualities, has large power distance between superior and sub-ordinate and has a low tolerance for the unknown or uncertainty.
Match with culture:
This dimension refers to how well the ideology of the non-state actor matches the beliefs and ambitions of the culture in which they reside.
Connectedness:
This dimension refers to the number of other actor nodes the non-state actor node is connected to (network analysis). Furthermore non-state actor functional role nodes should be assessed to determine “role connectedness.” The nodes should be analyzed by: seniority, node fitness, node preference, and distance from hub.
Money:
Obviously non-state actors with more money can do more. The amount of money should be analyzed in terms of regional wealth; how much money is spent on efforts toward desired outcome vs. how much is held; and where the money comes from: revenue generating efforts (industry, crime, etc) vs. money is donated by populace.
Popular support/member:
This dimension measures both direct active membership (support) and indirect support. How many people hail to the cause and to what degree?
Definitions:
State Actor: A person or organization that plays a role in politics and directly represents the governing power of a state and/or receives direct, obligatory direction from a state.
Non-State Actor: A person or organization which plays a role in politics and receives no direct, obligatory direction from a state.
Non-State Actor Model
Introduction (standard of measure):
Non-state actors have goals and undertake efforts to achieve those desired ends. Simple analysis of non-state actor activities and the historical result of the efforts can develop a picture of their effectiveness. The question of the role of a non-state actor should be broken down into two related perspectives. 1) The role could refer to a service or purpose it performs. 2) The role could refer to the influence it exerts on geopolitics beyond its simple purpose or service, whether intentional (directive) or not. A non-state actor’s influence will likely be seen in two dimensions. 1) A correlation between the non-state actor’s beliefs and philosophies and that of the culture in which they reside. 2) A correlation between the goals of non-state actors and the goals and ambitions of the culture in which they reside. These dimensions may materialize in popular support or simply in common cultural effort. Additionally other actors may act against the efforts of the non-state actor or subscribe to beliefs contrary to the non-state actor. The degree to which desired ends come from lateral cultural efforts or intrinsic target actor behaviors must be distinguished. Therefore, the success of a non-state actor should be considered separately yet related to the influence the non-state actor wields in its geopolitical environment.
Careful consideration should be paid to the service/purpose or functional role of the non-state actor. This is to say, what would exist in the absence of the non-state actor? And perhaps more importantly who knows it. If a non-state actor is performing a specific function other actors may leave the non-state actor alone or even secure its position. An example of a domestic non-state entity is a home owner’s association. Home owner’s associations carry out many civic functions (in some cases: trash collection, city code enforcement, etc) that the local government does not have to spend time and money to perform on its own. Home owners associations are often left alone, and even supported by local governments. Other actors may go to great lengths to keep non-state actors in place if they provide an important function. Another potential example of this is telecommunications is Somalia. While, warlords greedily grabbed up industry and wealth the telecommunication industry was generally left alone. Such a functional role may endow a non-state actor great influence or simply provide stability for an inefficacious cause or effort. Such functional roles are best glimpsed through the lens of network analysis. Network analysis should not only be conducted to determine the relationship between the non-state actor and other actors, but in addition it should be conducted to determine the relationship between the efforts and functional roles of non-state actors and the roles and efforts of other actors.
In order to determine the potential influence non-state actors may have on geopolitics in Africa and in turn US policy, analysis must take a multi-perspective approach. Collection should be guided identifying the key aspects of the non-state actor which are most indicative of the above mentioned characteristics. The role of a non-state actor is best defined by its movement toward desired ends minus lateral efforts (+/-) plus the popular support (+/-) it wields plus the functional role (+/-) it plays.
State Actor category:
Non-State actors should be broken down into groups according to the nature of their efforts to acquire desired ends.
Random Sampling:
The best way to gain an accurate intelligence picture of non-state actors in Africa is to identify populations and sub-populations (categorical non-state actors) and randomly select a sample to measure based on dimensions that are likely to indicate their role in geopolitics. The sample should be measured and compared for correlations between movement toward goal, functional role, and influence and the identified indicator dimensions. The dimensions should then be refined and organized according to the results. Theoretical causal relationships should be defined between the dimension and their indicated assessment. Once analysis is complete a second sample should be selected and assessed using the model to determine whether it accurately analyzes the second group.
Analytical Dimensions of Non-State Actors
Western-Individualist/ Non-Western-Collectivist
- Hofstede’s (1980) cultural dimensions can be used to determine this value:
- Individualism/Collectivism
- Power Distance
- Masculinity/Femininity
- Uncertainty Avoidance
- Significant data likely already exists for Africa
-Western-Individualism:Western individualism generally emphasizes individual human rights, free market economy, and liberal democracies. Western culture generally exhibits more masculine qualities, has less power distance between superiors and subordinates, and has a high tolerance for risk or uncertainty.
-Non-Western-Collectivism:
Generally emphasizes family reputation, communal property, and service to the state or cause. Collectivist cultures generally exhibit more feminine qualities, has large power distance between superior and sub-ordinate and has a low tolerance for the unknown or uncertainty.
Match with culture:
This dimension refers to how well the ideology of the non-state actor matches the beliefs and ambitions of the culture in which they reside.
Connectedness:
This dimension refers to the number of other actor nodes the non-state actor node is connected to (network analysis). Furthermore non-state actor functional role nodes should be assessed to determine “role connectedness.” The nodes should be analyzed by: seniority, node fitness, node preference, and distance from hub.
Money:
Obviously non-state actors with more money can do more. The amount of money should be analyzed in terms of regional wealth; how much money is spent on efforts toward desired outcome vs. how much is held; and where the money comes from: revenue generating efforts (industry, crime, etc) vs. money is donated by populace.
Popular support/member:
This dimension measures both direct active membership (support) and indirect support. How many people hail to the cause and to what degree?